Coinbase Europe's 21.5 Million Euro Fine: A Wake-Up Call for the Crypto World

Ireland's Central Bank has imposed a hefty 21.5 million euro penalty on Coinbase Europe's Irish subsidiary. The fine comes after failures in their monitoring systems allowed over 30 million transactions, totaling 176 billion euros, to go unmonitored against anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism standards.

The Central Bank revealed delays in Coinbase’s reporting, which spanned almost three years, leading to 2,708 transactions flagged as suspicious. These transactions were linked to serious crimes like money laundering and cyber attacks. Coinbase attributed the failure to coding errors and has made subsequent system improvements.

The original fine was reduced from 30.7 million euros, given a settlement agreement. The Irish Deputy Governor warned of the risks posed by inadequate monitoring systems, highlighting that crypto's inherent anonymity and cross-border nature make it appealing to criminals.